Munich, Germany, 05 May 2010 – Linde Gases, a division of The Linde Group, is taking the necessary steps to align itself to the forthcoming United Nations-developed international chemicals re-classification system – Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) – across its entire range of gases and chemicals. Moreover, Linde has also launched an initiative to help its gases customers to understand and adopt the multiple changes that will impact the way gases are transported, stored and handled across their supply chains.

To facilitate this initiative, the company has published a detailed Gases and Applications handbook. The handbook, which provides clear pictorial representations of the new GHS classification and labelling system and comparisons with existing EU classification systems, aims to clarify updated property descriptions of hazardous products and their main labelling information.

“With its innovative gases technologies, Linde plays a pioneering role in the global gases market,” says Stephen Harrison, Head of Specialty Gases and Equipment at Linde. “The agility with which Linde is implementing GHS is testament to our unwavering commitment to customers to partner in their success through safety and compliance. Customers are invited to engage with EU classification experts from Linde to understand how these changes benefit them.”

The global implementation of GHS will affect over sixty countries and will directly impact all pure gases in the EU countries from 1 December 2010, with the re-classification of gas mixtures being implemented from 2015.

While most countries have systems for the classification of hazardous chemicals - including gases - to ensure safe transportation, storage, use and disposal, to date various national or regional systems have not always been compatible. This incompatibility has often meant the re-labelling, or the use of multiple labels, on a product, increasing the risks involved in handling gases. For organisations operating at an international level, the need to comply with multiple regulations on hazard classification and labelling has meant that end users may perceive inconsistent label warnings, therefore increasing the risks involved in handling a particular gas, in addition to the added time or barriers companies may face to align their classification and labelling with local requirements.

The Linde Gases Division, part of the Linde Group, is a leader in the international industrial and healthcare gases markets, providing compressed, bulk, specialty and medical gases, as well as chemicals to virtually all fields of industry globally. The company adds value to its customers’ businesses through the provision of state-of-the-art application technology, process know-how, services and equipment.

The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 48,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2009 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 11.2 billion. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.

Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.